Police Blotter for Aug. 30, 2012 for Hamburg and Evans

An Ontario man was killed at approximately 9:16 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 23 in a two-vehicle head-on collision on Route 20, just west of Gowanda Road in the Town of Evans.

According to Town of Evans Police, it appears that the vehicles collided in the middle of the highway. The driver of one of the vehicles, Dario Vaccari, 75, from Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger was transported by Rural Metro ambulance to Erie County Medical Center.

The operator of the other vehicle, a 20-year-old male from Angola, had to be extricated from his vehicle and was transported by Mercy Flight to ECMC for various injuries.

The accident is still under investigation by the Town of Evans Police Accident Investigation Unit.

Responding to the scene were members of Evans Center, Angola, Lake Erie Beach and North Evans fire companies as well as Eden Emergency Squad.

Maloney to serve six months for fatal accident

Bradley V. Maloney, 19, of the Town of Hamburg, was sentenced Monday, Aug. 27, to six months in jail and five years probation in connection with a vehicle accident which killed a 14-year-old girl and two other teens.

Maloney pled guilty to felony first-degree vehicular manslaughter, felony first-degree vehicular assault, second-degree vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated following the Jan. 28 accident which left one teen dead and two others injured, one seriously.

The accident occurred at approximately 4:20 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, when a 2001 Ford Mustang convertible operated by Maloney, left Versailles Plank Road in the Town of Brant and went down the embankment, throwing the three backseat passengers out of the vehicle. According to police none of the back seat passengers were wearing seat belts.

Angela Keim, 14, of Hamburg and a Frontier School District student, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

A 13-year-old female Hamburg resident sustained critical injuries and was transported to Women & Children’s Hospital, officials said. According to authorities, she still needs medical care at home.

The third teen received less serious injuries and she, along with the other vehicle occupant, were treated at local hospitals and released.

According to officials, Maloney and about 15 other young adults/teens had left a party that morning to go to a cottage in Chautauqua County.

According to police, Maloney cooperated fully with police at the time of the accident. He admitted later to authorities he had been drinking some beers before driving off with his passengers.

Maloney appeared before Erie County Court Judge Michael Pietruszka for sentencing.

Restaurant employee admits to robbery

Denivorie Jackson, of Lackawanna, has pled guilty, as charged, to six counts of second-degree robbery before Supreme Court Justice Christopher Burns on Thursday, Aug. 23.

According to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, Jackson admitted to committing the robbery at The Outback Steakhouse in Hamburg on Sept. 23, 2011.

Jackson, who was employed at the restaurant at the time, admitted that he, along with Willie Martin of Lackawanna, Jason Brooks of Lackawanna and Joseph Tucker of Buffalo, displayed what appeared to be a firearm during the robbery and left the victims tied up inside the restaurant while fleeing in a stolen car.

Jackson is scheduled to be appear before Burns for sentencing at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 19 and faces a maximum prison term of 15 years.

Martin and Brooks previously pled guilty to second-degree attempted robbery and face a maximum sentence of seven years in jail. They are also scheduled to appear before Burns for sentencing at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 19.

Tucker is scheduled for trial, beginning on Sept. 24.

Unlocked vehicle doors invitation to thieves

Town of Hamburg Police are warning residents that there has been a series of vehicle larcenies in the area. Electronics, personal papers, credit cards, prescription drugs and other items have been reported taken.

Overnight on Friday, Aug. 23 and early Saturday, Aug. 24, police received four reports from Wilson Drive residents, one from a Tomaka Drive resident and one from a Tudor Place resident that vehicles had been entered into, rifled and items stolen.

Residents are being advised to lock their cars overnight,” Town of Hamburg Captain Kevin Trask said. “These are crimes of opportunity with no or little evidence for follow up.”

Similar incidents have also occurred in the surrounding municipalities, including the Town of Evans.

Car larcenies in the Village of Hamburg

Village of Hamburg Police report that between Aug. 23 and Aug. 28, two vehicles were entered into and items were reported taken.

According to police, a vehicle parked outside the apartments on Sunset Court was entered into and a set of golf clubs and a lap top was removed. Estimated value of the items was set at $1,200.

A vehicle parked on Brookwood Drive was also entered into and a wallet, with personal papers and identification was reported missing.

DWI accident in Brant

The Erie County Sheriff’s Office Deputies from the North Collins substation responded to 157 calls from Monday, Aug. 20 to Sunday, Aug. 26.

On Saturday, Aug. 25, Deputy Tony Yavicoli responded to a call of an accident in the Town of Brant.

According to police, the vehicle, operated by Angell Haight, 22, of Angola, drove off Erie Road and struck a culvert.

Haight, who refused the breath test, was charged with driving while intoxicated.

DWI accident on bridge

At 1:33 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 24, Town of Evans Police Officer Gregory Szarowicz was flagged down by a resident who heard an accident on the Route 5 bridge, near South Creek Road and then saw a pickup truck drive down the street, dragging something.

According to police, while Szarowicz was checking the area, Phillip N. Grobe, 23, of Evans, was found hiding behind construction equipment on the bridge.

Szarowicz also observed skid marks on the pavement of the bridge and items scattered about the area.

Grobe was charged with driving while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle with more than .08 percent of alcohol in the blood ( he had a BAC of more than twice the legal limit) and moving from lane unsafely.

Narcotics arrest

At 12:43 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 26, Town of Hamburg Police Officer responded to a possible burglary in progress at a Teacher’s Lane apartment.

Upon arriving at the scene, Randall observed a person matching the suspect’s description walking on the Teacher’s Lane side of the apartment, heading towards the front of the building.

According to police, when asked what she was doing, the suspect, Katie A. Civiletto, 27, of Buffalo, allegedly said she was trying to get back into her friend’s apartment, that she had just moved in with him but did not have a key and was locked out.

She was unable to tell police what her friend’s last name was and she said that her friends had left her there about 20 minutes ago, but the apartment owner was not there and she needed to get her cell phone, which was in the apartment.

According to police, Civiletto was unable to provide any identification, became very nervous and began pushing something down into her left pocket.

An inspection of the apartment building revealed that screens on three of the windows had been pried off or attempted to be pried off, with damage to all of them.

A check on the subject revealed there were two outstanding warrants for her, one from the Buffalo Police Department and the other from the Depew Police Department.

At the Hamburg Police Station, Civiletto was found to be in possession of 13 hypodermic needles, 52 tablets of clonazepam ( a controlled substance), 68 tramodol pills, and two blank checks belonging to a Cheektowaga resident.

After contacting the Cheektowaga resident, it was found that Cheektowaga Police had just been contacted that her medication (two bottles) and some personal checks were missing.

Civiletto was charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic needle.

She was arraigned before Hamburg Justice Gerald Gorman and remanded to the Erie County Holding Center in lieu of $500 bail.

Man charged with assault

At 3:04 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 26, Town of Evans Police Officers Jeffrey DeVinney and Joseph LaRosa observed a vehicle enter the parking lot of the Angola Food Mart, saw a woman get out of the vehicle and heard yelling. The vehicle then left the area.

DeVinney stopped the victim while LaRosa pursued the vehicle.

The victim said she and Michael A. Lemmon, 31, of Westfield, were driving on Route 20 on the way home from the Buffalo Bills game, when a verbal argument began.

The victim told police the arguing escalated and she believes she was punched on the left side of her face by Lemmon, while they were passing through the Town of Evans. This all allegedly was done in front of the victim’s 8-year-old daughter.

Lemmon was taken into custody by police at a traffic stop on Southwestern Boulevard and Gowans Road. He claimed that the victim was injured earlier in the evening when he opened the vehicle door, striking her in the face, police said.

A computer check revealed that Lemmon did not possess a New York State driver’s license and that his privilege to operate a motor vehicle in the state had been suspended since January 2008.

Lemmon was charged with third-degree assault, third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17 and operation of a motor vehicle by an unlicensed driver.

He was arraigned before Town of Eden Justice Michael Cooper and was remanded to the Erie County Holding Center in lieu of $750 bail.

Chain reaction auto accident after Bills Game

At 10:09 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 25, Town of Hamburg Police Officer Michael Prusak arrived at the scene of a four-vehicle rear-ender chain reaction personal injury accident on Route 179 westbound on the 1-90 overpass.

According to police, the suspect, Jonathan Morris, 27, of Evans, was the last vehicle in line and allegedly told officers he believed he had caused the accident.

Morris, who admitted to drinking alcohol at the recently concluded Buffalo Bills game, failed several of the field sobriety tests and was transported to the police station.

Morris, who refused take the breath test at the police station, was charged with driving while intoxicated and following too close.

Physical domestic leads to arrest in Evans

At 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 27, Town of Evans Police Officer Tracey O’Donnell responded to a male/female domestic in progress at a Dawn Avenue home.

Upon arrival, police were told the suspect, Ryan J. Mighells, 29, of Evans had fled the scene.

The victim told O’Donnell the verbal argument began inside the residence because the victim had called the father of her child, which Mighells did not like.

He then allegedly yelled, became vulgar to the victim, threw dishes and furniture around the residence, breaking them before allegedly assaulting the victim.

According to the victim, he then grabbed her by the back of the hair, hit her, choked her several times, dragged her outside and slammed her to the ground, where she screamed for help. This was all done in front of her daughter, Mighells’ daughter and was also witnessed by neighbors.

An arrest warrant for Mighells was requested and charges pending against Mighells are: second-degree harassment, fourth-degree criminal mischief with intent to damage property and two counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17.